Jasprit Bumrah gave India the perfect start as he snuffed out Imam-Ul-Haq cheaply in Pakistan’s humongous 357-chase in the Asia Cup, Super 4 encounter in Colombo. Hardik Pandya then joined the party and packed Babar Azam for 10(24) in his first over. Kuldeep Yadav then added more miseries to Pakistan, who have lost half their side in the gigantic run chase. Earlier, Virat Kohli ended the Indian innings with two fours and a six off consecutive balls as India soared past the 350-run mark. Kohli and KL Rahul had both started off the reserve day in the middle and they were never dismissed. Kohli ended the innings with 122 runs off 94 while Rahul was unbeaten on 111 off 106 balls. The partnership between the two stood unbeaten on 233 off 194 balls. Kohli in the process became the fastest played to 13,000 ODI runs. Rahul meanwhile, showed how important he is to India’s cause in ODI cricket by scoring a century on return from a lengthy periods on the sidelines due to injury. He too returned unbeaten on 111 off 106 balls, which featured twelve 4s and two 6s.
Meanwhile, rain has been a major moodspoiler in the Asia Cup, which is being jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. While we didn’t witness any rain interruptions in Pakistan, the matches in Sri Lanka – Kandy and Colombo – have been majorly affected by rain. In fact the group encounter between the two produced no result after rain allowed only one innings to be played. Similar scenes have been witnessed as we are in the Super 4 stage. A 122-run stand between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill gave India a solid start to the match after they were invited to bat by Babar Azam. However, rain brought a complete end to the proceedings on Sunday as India were batting at 147/2 in 24.1 overs, pushing the match into the reserve day. Both Rohit and Gill had then slammed their respective half-centuries before quick blows by Shadab Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi pulled things back for Pakistan.
